Diana H. FishbeinPh.D.

Personal History:

Diana H. Fishbein became a Professor and Director of the Center for Translational Research on Adversity, Neurodevelopment, and Substance abuse (C-TRANS) in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine in March 2014. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University, a faculty subcontractor at Georgetown University, and a Guest Researcher at the National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program. Studies conducted by Dr. Fishbein utilize transdisciplinary methods and a developmental approach to understanding interactions between neurobiological processes and environmental factors. The ultimate goal of this program of research is to translate scientific findings to practice and policies designed to prevent mental health, emotional and behavioral problems. Her research supports the premise that underlying neurobiological mechanisms interact with the quality of our psychosocial experiences and environmental contexts to alter trajectories either towards or away from risk behaviors. Studies include those that are prospective and longitudinal, experimental, and clinical trial oriented, and she uses a variety of methodologies including MRI, psychophysiological monitoring, neurocognitive and emotion regulatory task batteries, biochemical assays, and psychological, behavioral, experiential, and contextual assessments. Dr. Fishbein's studies have found that deficits in certain neurobiological functions compromise responses to both preventive and treatment interventions. Given that neural dysfunction underlying behavioral disorders is at least in part malleable, her work suggests that compensatory mechanisms can be strengthened with the appropriate psychosocial and environmental manipulations. She has written and edited several books and about a hundred journal articles, including two special journal editions. Given the inherent translational nature of this research, she has created the National Prevention Science Coalition for Improving Lives, a national organization dedicated to the transfer of knowledge from the basic to the applied sciences as well as practical settings and public health policies. And finally, she wrote the Etiology Section of the International Standards for Drug Abuse Prevention for the United Nations and developed a training curriculum for policy-makers worldwide.